I'm a first time mom and I also work full time from home. I don't have the option to work less right now. I have a colicy baby and he's decided to stop napping during the day. The few times I've been able to put him down during the day I power work so I'm ready for the next time he gets up. But before I know it the day goes by, it's 5pm and I haven't showered or eaten all day. I know it's really not healthy but I have no idea how to get into a better schedule. Any tips?

I work from home, too (with two young children with me - and it can be rough! I tend to do the parts of my work that require concentration outside of regular working hours since I get interrupted so much. And sometimes the shower doesn't happen for me, either. If you get help when DH gets home, maybe shower then, and make your lunch and prepare snacks the night before? Something easy to eat while you're working / feeding the baby - a sandwich, sliced apples, granola bar, etc. It's tough for me to be so disciplined / organized on a consistent basis, but when I am, it takes a lot of the thought out of mundane tasks (like self-nourishment, ha) so that I can focus on being productive where it counts. Hope to figure out a system that works for you; it's a tough juggling act to pull off, but I wouldn't trade the opportunity to WFH for anything!

Even when I find time to cook, the kids will come hovering around me like baby birds wanting to eat off my plate and begging for bites of my food.

The only thing I've found that helps is keeping healthy but quick snacks around, like fruit, vegetable trays with dip, sandwich stuff, healthy frozen meals like Kashi that I can just throw in the oven and forget about until it's ready to go, etc. And I'll grab those throughout the day.

Also if your baby has colic, you already know by now that sometimes nothing you do can help him stop crying. He is just going to cry, regardless of what you're doing or if you're holding him. So put him in his crib and take a deep breath and focus on yourself for about ten minutes, just long enough to grab a bite to eat, before you go back to caring for him. It might sound heartless but if you can't take care of yourself, how can you continue caring for another human being?

I was having this issue as well, but my son has GERD and needed to be upright so he was very difficult to put down. I ended up once every few days portioning out into little pyrex containers with lids snacks so I could grab one and just eat it in the one or two minutes I had. If you mix carb/protein/fiber, you will feel not so hungry, have the quick energy (from the carbs) and the longer energy (from the protein). Good snacks for me were:

Apple slices and brie smeared on
Apple slices with peanut butter smeared on
Celery with peanut butter and some crackers
Cheddar and turkey or ham on crackers or pieces of bread
A sandwich already made of any kind
Cereal already poured into a bowl on the table with saranwrap over it, just pour in the milk
Granola bars made with dried fruit and nuts
String cheese and salami

I also would cut up oranges or other fruit and put that into a bowl already in bite sized pieces to just grab as well.

I would have the containers all stacked in the fridge, two or three a day, and tried to make them calorie dense and just a few bites so I could literally run to the kitchen, pull it out, eat fast, then at night take the dirties and put them into the dishwasher and wash the lids by hand. This was fast, efficient, and at least I ate something.

I think it's a good idea to make myself some snacks to put in the fridge. I'm allergic to nuts and seeds so I have to find other sources of energy but I can do meats and cheeses. Just need to make sure hubby doesn't get into my snacks!

Dr is seeing baby tomorrow to see if it's some kind of reflux or GERD, it's actually not colic but similar.

Oh and I finally got my sling in the mail today so we can try that out this week!

I'm also a WAHM, with 2 boys. But my boys are almost 5 and almost 2 years old, so probably a little different. But when they were babies I'd just wear them and eat with them in the carrier (normally on my back so to not spill on them), or eat one handed.